SOUTHSTONE ROCK The woods are quite magical and teeming with ABBERLEY AND MALVERN HILLS GEOPARK This leaflet describes a guided geology and landscape trail for life. Tree trunks have been Southstone Rock (Grid Reference So708639). The trail starts at deformed into splendid the Church of St Andrew, Shelsley Walsh (Grid Reference shapes as they try to anchor GEOLOGY & LANDSCAPE TRAIL GUIDE SO722629). Refer to Map One. themselves to the steep slopes of the dingle. The Map Legend Map One. Church ground is rich in decaying Photograph One:Blushing Bracket. SOUTHSTONE ROCK Wooded area of St Andrew to leaf matter hosting a fine Southstone Rock. (Daedaleopsis) Agricultural array of invertebrates. fields 3 Several species of fungi can Southstone be found (Photogrpahs One Rock and Two) St Andrews Church Continue uphill for Trail route another250m where you River will reach a junction marked Stream by a post on your left hand Road 2 side (Location 3) Photograph Two: Mycena Species 1 Location LOCATION THREE: River Turn left at the post and Teme follow the small path until you cross over a small stream. Southstone Rock now stands before you in all its splendor. 1 Southstone Rock is made of a soft grey rock called 500m N Tufa. Tufa is formed by the precipitation of water with a high dissolved LOCATION ONE: St Andrew’s Church calcium carbonate content (CaCO3). The Walk to the main road and turn left. Follow the main road for calcium carbonate 1.7km. As you walk along the road you will be treated to the deposits accumulate on to beautiful and tranquil scenery of the Teme Valley. To your right moss growing on the rock the fields softly slope down towards the River Teme. Rising face (Photograph Three). steeply in the east are the Abberley Hills. To the west, the valley The moss continues to sides are cut by a series of deep gorges carved out by the fast- grow, pushing through Photograph Three. Tufa forming on flowing streams which plunge down the valley sides towards the the calcium carbonate. Palustrielle commutata covering the River Teme. This new growth was rock face. Species Palusustrielle coated again and so the commutata is commonly associated LOCATION TWO: process continued. with tufa formation. Some of the tufa has been radiocarbon dated so we know that Location Two is marked by a gate and Public Right of Way the calcium carbonate has gradually accumulated over the footpath on the left. Walk through the gate and follow the last 6700 years to form the spectacular tufa cliffs forming stream uphill. After 150m you will enter the woods. Southstone Rock. It is not only mosses that become covered in calcium carbonate. People have been drawn to this site for thousands of years. It Map Two Southstone Rock Trail Many snails have become encased in the tufa, preserving their has been suggested that Southstone Rock lay on the important shells forever. saltway from Droitwich to Leominster in Roman times. Several caves at its base were later used by travelling monks of Trail route 8 Evesham for shelter and rest. The springs have been a focal Spring fed stream point for human activity because they are thought to have both Stream medicinal and spiritual properties. Southstone Rock was a 7 retreat for hermits and pilgrims who travelled here to take the Tufa deposit waters from a holy well.in Norman times a chapel dedicated to Site of modern or active St John the Baptist stood on top of the rock. It is said that two tufa formation monks from the Abbey of Evesham were located here as 4 Location guardians of the chapel. Offerings were made to the chapel at the feast of St John the Baptist at a service ending with the drinking of water from the holy well. LOCATION EIGHT: 6 Photograph Four: Textures preserved within the tufa Follow the path to Location Eight. The water escaping from 4 this spring has travelled through the rocks forming the 10m surrounding landscape. The Bromayrd plateau and the Teme 5 9 LOCATION SIX: valley are made up of Devonian sandstones (409 million years),Silurain limestones and mudstones (439millionyears). Follow the path to Location Six. If you look closely at the tufa, This rock sequence has resulted in the deployment of you will notice that the surface of the rock is covered with a underground steams (Figure One) smooth, hard coating. This coating is called Travertine. LOCATION FOUR: (please refer to Map Two ) Chemically it is identical to tufa but instead of the calcium carbonate being deposited on to the mosses, it has been Figure One Simplified geological The steam has been formed by a spring emerging from the base of deposited directly on to the tufa (Photograph Five) the Bishop’s From limestone. The source of this stream can be SprIng found at Location eight. Initially the stream would have flowed in an easterly direction. The stream gradually became blocked Travertine by the accumulating tufa deposits, forcing it to change direction of flow. Eventually the stream migrated across the cliff to its Devonian Flow direction present location forming large deposits of tufa. St Maughans Formation New tufa is still forming tday, if you look closely at the stream bed Silurian you will see that some of the stones are coated with a layed of Bishops Frome Limestone calcium carbonate giving them an opaque lustre. This is geology Raglan Mudstone Formation in action! LOCATION FIVE: Tufa Figure One represents a simplified geological cross section of the area. Rainwater passes through the permeable sandstones Follow the path to location five. You will notice that the cliff is Photograph Five: Travertine Deposits of the St Maughans Formation. When the water reaches the split into several blocks. Originally it stood as one single entity layer of Bishops Frome Limestone it travels through it but over time the ground has started to move under the weight of LOCATION SEVEN: dissolving some of the calcium carbonate as it does so. The the rock, causing some of the blocks to break free. water is forced to move laterally along the base of the limestone The tufa is filled with many tiny cavities caused by the decay of Follow the path until you reach Location Seven. If you look at when it reaches the impermeable mudstones of the Raglan moss around which it formed. The cavity shape left behind the stream bed you will notice pieces of brick and slate. They Mudstone Formation. The water eventually emerges from varies greatly creating many different textures within the rock once belonged to a cottage that used to stand on top of the rock springs at the base of the Bishops Frome Limestone. The water (Photograph four). until it was demolished in the 1950’s. changes temperature when the spring emerges from the ground. As the temperature is reduced, the water can then Blocks of tufa from Southstone contain less dissolved calcium carbonate and the excess is Rock can be found in the walls of deposited on the plants and rocks in the stream. many churches within the Teme Valley (Photograph Eight). Tufa has LOCATION NINE: been used as a building stones because it is easy to carve and is light Retrace your steps back along the path to Location Nine. Look in weight. However, it has also been at the rock face and you will see a small cave which has been suggested that by using tufa in carved into the rock (Photograph Six).Afieldreport dated 1856 sacred buildings the spiritual noted a series of rooms and passages carved into the rock. properties of the holy spring water Another report in 1874 mentioned traces of steps built into the were transferred directly into the rock leading up to the site of the old chapel. All of this has been place of worship. Tufa has also been lost to erosion and rock collapse. used as a walling stone and as aggregate for the construction of local trackways and footpaths. Photograph Eight. St Kenelms Church, Clifton Upon Teme. DIRECTIONS: The single road through Shelsley Walsh does not have a name. The road is met at the north end by the B4203 at Stanford Bridge. The southern end of this road is met by the B2404 which runs from Martley to Tenbury Wells. The closest public transport is at Clifton upon Teme. Please Photograph Six: Cave carved into the tufa contact Traveline on 0870 6082608 for details of bus times. Alternative Public Rights of Way can be followed to Southstone The trail ends here. Retrace your steps back to the Church of Rock. Please refer to O.S Explorer Map 204 for details. St Andrew (Location One). CHURCH OF ST ANDREW: For further information contact: Abberley and Malvern Hills Geopark Secretariat The church of St Andrew is built almost entirely of tufa from Geological Records Centre Southstone Rock (Photograph Seven). The church is Norman University of Worcester in age and the interior is worth a visit for its beautifully Henwick Grove decorated wooden carvings and stars painting on the ceiling. Worcester WR2 6AJ Tel: 01905 855184 E-mail: [email protected] www.geopark.org This publication was prepared by Herefordshire and Worcetserhire Earth Heritage Trust on behalf of the Abberley and Malvern Hills Geopark. Photograph Seven. Church of St Andrew, Shelsley Walsh www.EarthHeritageTrust.org.